Nativism: Race and Immigrants

Nativism is the feeling that immigration and foreigners are detrimental to native-born Americans. Unfortunately, nativist’s feelings are not based on political convenience or logical theories, but on ignorant assumptions that produce religious, racial, and cultural discrimination. Many nativist groups or individuals, both in the past and presently, have one thing in common- the fear of not being in control. The basic thing one has to see is that misinformation and short-sighted fear can often produce the absence of fairness and human dignity. The Ku Klux Klan was a racist group who also committed atrocities in the name of nativism. The KKKs were formed because many people were started to get afraid of the “rising power of the blacks” and also hated immigration and Jews. “What was the rising power of the blacks?” Is it because they were not slaves or maybe because they simply wanted to vote, a constitutional right! African Americans were still treated like property in the South under the Jim Crow Laws. African Americans were denied their constitutional right to vote by various ways of intimidation; but yet the KKKs could do whatever they wanted and be protected by the “constitutional” idea that they had the right to express themselves. The KKKs were also anti-Semitic and anti-Semitism was prevalent in the U.S.
To understand immigration better one has to see the factors that produced and produce immigration to America. Industrialization and social changes in Europe produced mass immigration from countries like Germany, France, and Ireland. The Industrial Revolution transformed the small, agricultural society into a manufacturing economy which helped the U.S. to prosper and excel. Social changes were another major factor that stimulated immigration. Political upheavals, religious persecution, and a search for adventure were the basic reason for the relocation of these people. Why would they come to the U.S. to purposely try to create a political or cultural upheaval,